Introduction:
Overseas releases of Shining Force II offer a choice of four difficulty modes when starting a new game. The modes and their effects on gameplay are laid out as follows:
• NORM. - Same difficulty as the Japanese version
• HARD - Same as NORM., with "some AI improvements"
• SUPER - Base ATT of enemies increased by 25% over NORM. and HARD
• OUCH! - Same as HARD (or so it seems)
This configuration has been called into question by the community for a long time, as it is not readily apparent how these presumed AI improvements are intended to make the game harder.
As such, SUPER is generally accepted to be the only truly challenging mode.
About this patch:
This patch attempts to give players more incentive to pick either HARD or OUCH! by providing these modes with stat increases of their own. Existing effects on the enemy AI have been left untouched.
• NORM. - Unchanged
• HARD - Base DEF of enemies increased by 25% over NORM.
• SUPER - Unchanged
• OUCH! - Base ATT and DEF of enemies both increased by 25% over NORM.
Additionally, these percentage-based increases have been made easier to modify by changing the bytes of a patched ROM in a hex editor at the following addresses:
$1B15BB: $7D (125) ; ATT increase across all difficulties
$1B15CF: $7D (125) ; Additional ATT increase in SUPER and OUCH! modes
$1B15E9: $7D (125) ; DEF increase in HARD and OUCH! modes
How to install:
Intended for use with the North American version of the game (and as far as I know, this should also be compatible with most hacks out there.)
Use your favorite IPS patching utility, such as Lunar IPS or Flips, to apply the included "sf2-difficult-difficulty.ips" file onto a non-interleaved ROM (i.e., not SMD format.)
For your convenience, an anti-patch is also provided which will effectively remove this patch when applied.
Overseas releases of Shining Force II offer a choice of four difficulty modes when starting a new game. The modes and their effects on gameplay are laid out as follows:
• NORM. - Same difficulty as the Japanese version
• HARD - Same as NORM., with "some AI improvements"
• SUPER - Base ATT of enemies increased by 25% over NORM. and HARD
• OUCH! - Same as HARD (or so it seems)
This configuration has been called into question by the community for a long time, as it is not readily apparent how these presumed AI improvements are intended to make the game harder.
As such, SUPER is generally accepted to be the only truly challenging mode.
About this patch:
This patch attempts to give players more incentive to pick either HARD or OUCH! by providing these modes with stat increases of their own. Existing effects on the enemy AI have been left untouched.
• NORM. - Unchanged
• HARD - Base DEF of enemies increased by 25% over NORM.
• SUPER - Unchanged
• OUCH! - Base ATT and DEF of enemies both increased by 25% over NORM.
Additionally, these percentage-based increases have been made easier to modify by changing the bytes of a patched ROM in a hex editor at the following addresses:
$1B15BB: $7D (125) ; ATT increase across all difficulties
$1B15CF: $7D (125) ; Additional ATT increase in SUPER and OUCH! modes
$1B15E9: $7D (125) ; DEF increase in HARD and OUCH! modes
How to install:
Intended for use with the North American version of the game (and as far as I know, this should also be compatible with most hacks out there.)
Use your favorite IPS patching utility, such as Lunar IPS or Flips, to apply the included "sf2-difficult-difficulty.ips" file onto a non-interleaved ROM (i.e., not SMD format.)
For your convenience, an anti-patch is also provided which will effectively remove this patch when applied.
